time to paddle the canoe, not just yet

Started this project on 1/21. She will be 19’. Didn’t dream about making a 19 footer but after talking to a friend, I am. He mentioned that his father-in-law(Rex) made a few canoe and so the story begins. Met with Rex to pick his brain on the process any insights he had learned. By the end of our meeting, he had graciously offered to allow me to use his strongback then he really stepped up to plate & offered to come to my shop, help w/ set up & assist in starting the first few strips. WOW.

Anywho, so I set off on my journey. Found some 1×4x20 clear cedar. Cut it to 1/4” then ran all the strips through my router to cut the flute & bead. The accent strip is walnut w/ aspen diamond inlays made on the mortise press & aspen stock milled to 3/8” to fit the hole. Rex has made an addition to his stations by adding a groove to allow for clamping so there is no need for staples. Genius he was with this idea. Makes the stripping much easier. So glue, tape & clamps & here we go.

a special thanks to Rex!!!

I have added a picture of the groove routed into the station for clamping.

While not totally completed, you are certainly making excellent progress. Being able to borrow that strongback certainly put you forward quite a bit. I bet the guys that are doing these builds from ground zero are cussing you out now… Since it’s 19’ long, I have to assume the rocker is pretty low on this. At least that’s kind of the way the strongback looks…

Post up when she’s done and in the water. Would love to know how she handles…. Looks like a great boat to take on a fishing / camping trip along a nice quiet lake…

You will be very proud to show this project off. I built two 16 ft’s many years ago. The first one was my own design (not a good idea) using 7 1/2 oz. fiberglass cloth. This conoe weight was 80 lbs. I did not keep it very long. The second one was some plans that I got from the Minnesota Conoe Assocation. This one was a much better design and I used 4 oz fiberglass cloth. It’s weight was 50 lbs. One thing you will have to keep in mind when you are finished. You will have a conoe that you have spent a lot of hours making and it will be a work of art. It will be a conoe that you have to get your feet wet when you put it into and out of the water, because you will not want to scratch it up on the rocks.Also, when you are done, you might consider making your own paddles.

-- "Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life" Solomon